Harvey Cody Jones,,,,,,, 'The Detroit Express' The sparring partner for the young Cassius Clay. Angelo Dundee's 'secret weapon' in preparing Cassius for Sonny Liston, in 1964, and again in 1965. As later, both said that Cody Jones left hook was powerful, maybe not quite as devastating as Liston's, but it was much quicker. The 6' 2" 205 lb. Jones, a powerfully-built left hook bomber from Detroit, should have gone places in the heavyweight division. Unfortunately, developed a 'sparring partner mentallity'. Was 11-3-1 (10 KO's) when he was brought into Miami to help Cassius Clay to prepare for Sonny Liston. Had emerged as a 'Heavyweight to Watch' by Ring Magazine when he held highly regarded #22 ranked heavyweight Jefferson Davis to a 10-Round Draw in December 1963. The slab-muscled Jones sparred with the young Cassius many rounds. The goal, to help Clay avoid the big-swinging left hook, by developing a quick move to his left. On several occasions, Jones landed his vaunted left-hook, dazing the fleet-footed Clay as well as bloodying his nose. He also got a good write-up in Sports Illustrated.
* Harvey Cody Jones * Born; October 2, 1938 * Amateur Record; 76-9 (51 KO's) * Recorded 21 straight knockouts in 1959/1960 * Split 4-bouts with Sonny Banks * Won the 1959 Greater Detroit Heavyweight Open Tournament Turned Pro, Novermber 1960 (Age 22)
Was KOd by Jim Jones (whom was later KOd by Jimmy Young in his debut , but after a 5 yrs layoff) and TKOd by Doug Jones in his last fight . do you know what was d reason 4 that TKO ? and also what can u tell about that Jim Jones whose record has 100% stoppage rate in his wins ? y did his career go nowhere and he retired unstopped with 11 out of 11 wins coming by stoppage and then came back 5 yrs later only 2b KOd by a debutting Jimmy Young ?
frankenfrank, Cody Jones was one-dimensional. Got into a bad habit of leading with his chin first, after scoring too many easy Knock-outs in the amateurs. Had a mean left-hook which was lightening quick, but did not develop into an all-around fighter. Was strictly a left-hook 'knockout artist'. Claim to Fame; * Flooring Cassius Clay 'twice' in a January 1964 3-Round sparring session. * Staggering and bloodying Cassius Clay's nose in a February 18, 1964 sparring session (1-week before the Liston fight).
so not only did Cassius Clay stink in at least 2 of his preceding fights pre liston but he even stunk in sparring ? interesting facts and it might have answered my question about his loss 2 Doug Jones , but what about Jim Jones' career ? If anything , his record seems like 1 of a puncher . Y did he retire unstopped after quite a short career with all wins coming inside their time ?
Frank, I'll check into Mr. Jones. I wouldn't say Mr. Clay was bad in sparring. Just a couple of sessions with Cody Jones. The guy had a murderous left hook. He also sparred with the 'new' Muhammad Ali in October/November 1964, and again in April/May 1965. All sparring in preperation for Sonny Liston.
